To Kiss Away My Tears
by handwrittenportraits
Summary: Set during Voldermort War 1, Minerva is alone at Hogwarts waiting for Albus to return from a secretive mission. One Shot. ADMM


**_Summary:_ Set during Voldermort War 1, Minerva is alone at Hogwarts waiting for Albus to return from a secretive mission. One Shot. ADMM ****_Category:_ Romance/Angst ****_Rating:_ MA – There is some lemony action toward the end :-) So if you are not old enough for that kind of thing, or simply don't like it, please do not continue reading. Kthx. ****_Disclaimer:_ As always, it's not mine, but I am forever grateful to Ms. JKR for allowing me to have a bit of fun with her creations. ****_Authors Note:_ This story is set during Voldermort War 1, in the period shortly before James and Lily Potter died. I like the idea of Minerva being left alone and contemplating whilst Albus is off fighting the forces of evil :-) and I hope I have succeeded in portraying the image of a woman unsure in her certainty that her lover is safe and alive. Also, who could resist writing a lemony reunion scene? Honestly.**

* * *

**To Kiss Away My Tears**

Three hours ago it had started to rain. And for three hours, Minerva McGonagall had been curled in the cushy window seat that provided her a view of the magnificent expanse of the Hogwarts grounds. It was a spectacular vision, even in the stormy darkness of the night. Her eyes however, did not focus upon the Lake, whose eerie black surface was being bombarded with heavy raindrops, or the trees of the forest in the distance which were being whipped back and forth by an unforgiving wind.

No, she had been staring, for three hours, at the window pane beside her.

Her breath fogged it's surface while she watched, transfixed, as raindrop after raindrop hit the glass and then slowly rolled downwards, mingling with other droplets along it's way, and eventually creating a stream of water that flowed hastily down the stone walls of the castle outside.

It was ironic, she considered vaguely, that the sky should so easily weep, but that her own stubbornness refused to let her cry herself. But then, it was not as though she really had anything to cry about. It was not as if he was gone forever. It _had_ been almost five weeks, but this was not the first time he had left the castle with little warning, and no indication of when he may return. These were very dark and difficult times and she knew - they both knew - that the role that he played in this war was one that could be filled by no other. The man she loved had shouldered the responsibility of protecting their world, and even she was inclined to admit that it was a very noble thing for him to do.

Nonetheless, she hated not being able to protect him, and their current situation filled her with unbelievable quantities of fear, and apprehension and sadness. Great sadness. But in the end, her common sense told her that she had nothing to be distressed about – as far as she knew, no harm had come to him. She could not allow herself to cry. It was, therefore, with a strange sense of melancholy that she found comfort in the fact that the rain outside so clearly represented the tears that refused to fall from her own eyes. It was as if the skies were weeping for her.

It was as she sat, in disheartened contemplation by the window in her living room on this rainy night, that a bright light appeared quite suddenly, unexpectedly even, in the far distance, catching her eye. Someone was entering Hogwarts grounds. Not just someone – a tall, silver haired, long bearded someone. Her someone. Albus was home.

* * *

Her bare feet pounded against the cold stone corridors as she hurried blindly towards the doors, and out into the school grounds. The skin exposed by the scarce nightgown that she wore exploded into goosebumps as she burst into the cold night air, but she did not notice. For merely ten feet away from her, stood a man whom she knew all to well. He was shrouded in shadows and rain, but she would know him anywhere – his tall muscular body, long sweeping beard and thick silver hair. Even through the darkness she could make out the bewitching blue of his eyes, as he stared at her. 

"Albus," she whispered, her breath catching in the wind that swept about her.

The unrelenting rain quickly soaked through her light nightgown, and turned her loose ebony hair to damp tendrils that hung wildly about her shoulders, before she moved forward and cupped his face in her cold hands.

"Albus," she repeated, her eyes frantically moving over his features in search of signs of harm or injury. There were none, but there was definitely a defeated look in his usually twinkling eyes, and his face looked worn. Tired.

"Are you…I thought something had…" she continued, still a little breathless from her break-neck journey through the castle.

He moved quickly to press two fingers over her lips, gently silencing her and pulling her against his chest with his other hand.

"I'm fine," he whispered softly into her ear.

She reveled in the warmth that his breath on her neck provided, before she moved to look into his eyes once more. Staring into the sapphire depths, she voiced simply, the one question that she was certain he could not answer her.

"Where have you been?"

It was to her utmost surprise therefore, that he sighed resignedly and moved a hand to wipe the rain from her cheeks.

"I can't tell you too much Min, you know that. However, I do think that you have a right to know…" He shook his head briefly as if trying to clear his mind of meddling thoughts, before continuing, "It's James and Lily Potter,"

Minerva gasped audibly at the sound of two very familiar names, but Albus continued.

"We have intelligence that Voldemort is attempting to track them down and…" his voice trailed off but he didn't need to finish his sentence to convey his message.

"No," Minerva whispered softly, completely oblivious to the mud squleching beneath her bare toes, "No, no…whatever does he want with James and Lily?"

Albus shook his head again but said nothing.

"So that's where you have been – you've been helping them? Hiding them?" Her voice was almost pleading now, straining against the defeated look on his face, against the rainfall around them.

"Of course," Albus pressed his lips against the dampness of Minerva's forehead, "Of course, of course I have."

They stood for a moment, in each others embrace, apparently oblivious to the merciless downpour until Albus finally pulled away from the woman slightly.

"It's raining," he murmured, and she nodded.

"You're drenched," he added, eyeing her nightgown which clung with dampness to her body, and she nodded once more.

"You're not wearing any shoes," he whispered, a shadow of a smile dancing around his lips.

Minerva let out a half-laugh, half-sob as she looked at her own bare feet that had sunken into the muddy dampness of the lawn below them.

"Inside," he whispered, and she merely nodded and allowed him to steer her back to their private rooms.

* * *

She entered the living room, a soft emerald green dressing gown, wrapped firmly around her slender frame, replacing the soaked nightgown that she had discarded on the bathroom floor. Her hair, although it had been combed, was still damp, and felt cool against her neck. 

She stopped in her tracks, and smiled softly as she caught sight of Albus. He was standing in front of the window, which not to long ago Minerva herself had been sitting by, with his back to her. He had stripped off his outer robes and damp clothing, and was now only wearing a pair of muggle trousers, the firm muscles of his upper body well-defined, and eye-catching in the soft firelight of the room.

She padded softly across the carpet to where he stood, wrapping her arms around his naked waist and moving his mass of damp hair to place a soft kiss between his shoulder blades. The closeness of his body, the warmth of his skin against hers. She had missed that – she had missed the comfort that it provided, the reassurance that his physical presence afforded her.

He slowly revolved his body, so that he was facing her, and wrapped his own bare arms around her.

"They'll be OK, you know," she said softly, tracing a finger over the fine lines of his face, somewhat unsure of who she was trying to convince of that fact.

"I hope so," he breathed, closing his eyes and relishing her tender touch.

Her hands moved now, over his cheeks, down his neck, and to his firm shoulders. Kneading them slightly, she pushed him gently back to sit on the edge of the window seat that she had been curled in earlier. His hands found hers and he placed a gentle kiss on the backs of both of them. His eyes twinkled as he looked up at her smiling face. He had almost forgotten the comfort that her presence provided – her smile, her touch, her calm, rhythmic voice. He buried his face against the warm fabric of the dressing gown wrapped over her stomach, and murmured against it.

"I missed you, Min."

Her fingers moved under his chin, and gentle moved his face so that he was looking into her eyes once more.

"I know," she whispered, "I missed you too."

His fingers moved slowly to play about the knot of her dressing gown, finally loosening it so that it gaped ever so slightly, and afforded him a peek of bare skin beneath. Apparently, she had not felt the need for a new nightgown when they had returned from the grounds. He slowly slid a warm hand beneath the softness of her dressing gown, to caress the smooth skin of her stomach that he found there. It had been almost five weeks since he had been able to so much as touch her, and so even the lightest contact seemed to elicit small gasps from Minerva's lips. Slowly, excruciatingly almost, his hand worked it's was up her abdomen, tracing intricate patterns over her skin, until he finally reached the bottom of her left breast, and paused. Her eyes, which had been closed against his ministrations, fluttered open at the cessation of his movements. Albus smiled tenderly as he slipped his other hand behind the small of her back and pulled her towards him so that she was forced from her standing position, to sit, with her legs straddled over his lap.

Their faces were only inches apart now, and Minerva's eyes were shining in anticipation. He did not kiss her properly yet though, but rather moved to gently push her dressing gown from her creamy bare shoulders, so that it fell to the ground and left her completely naked to his eyes. His gaze swept over the erotic curve of her hips, stomach and breasts, before he turned his attention once more, back to her face.

Finally, his fingers threaded themselves through the dampness of her dark hair, as he pulled her lips toward his own, and met them with a searing kiss. She could find no strength for resistance as he deepened the embrace, and only returned his efforts with equal, if not greater intensity.

When they eventually broke apart, there was still merely a few inches between their lips, and Albus continued to gaze into her fiery emerald eyes as his hands began to wander once more. Over her shoulders, down the firm expanse of her upper arms, over her bare hips, to rest on the small of her back. His lips too, began a new journey, placing burning kisses over her neck, down the bony prominence of her collar bone and between her breasts. Instinctively, Minerva tilted her head backward, granting him greater access to her chest. A familiar warmth was spreading through her abdomen, and the unmistakable evidence of Albus' arousal pressing against her thigh, only compounded her own anticipation as his lips continued to create moist trails over her breasts.

Her fingernails scraped over his bare chest and then quickly dug themselves into the skin of his muscular shoulders, as his lips met one of her hard, oversensitive nipples, and she let a soft cry. His ministrations were pushing her so close to the edge of release that she wondered hazily how such simple attentions could elicit such a response in her.

"I…I…" she breathed softly, as his lips moved to her other breast, "I – just…I need you," she managed to articulate, "Now."

Something that may have been amusement flickered over Albus' features, as he looked at the woman, straddled over his lap. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips were swollen, and her damp hair hung over her shoulders, which were moving rhythmically with every breath she took. She was beautiful.

Without speaking, and with just a wave of his hand, his remaining clothing vanished into thin air.

Their bare chests were flush against each other as he pressed his lips to her neck once more and murmured nonsense words against her skin. Her hips shifted, grinding against his own, but he did not give her what she most desired, not just yet. Instead, he smiled as his fingers traced over her thighs and she failed to suppress the moan that formed somewhere deep in her throat.

"Please…" she whispered against his cheek, needing only the most intimate of physical touch to prove to herself that he was in fact alive, and holding her in his arms.

Obligingly, he intwined his hands behind her back and pulled her as close to him as he could, whilst she wrapped her legs tightly around him. In the split second before he entered her, she managed to catch his lips with her own, so that his gasp of pleasure was muffled by her mouth.

Limbs entwined and bodies united, the two soon found a rhythm all of their own, pouring every emotion, every fear, every lonely moment of the last five weeks into the passion that they had created. Every kiss, every touch and every caress sent waves of burning desire between the pair, and it did not take long for them both to find sweet, blissful release.

Exhausted, his lips finally rested against her shoulder, as they breathed heavily in unison, limbs still tangled.

He was warm, and smelt of sandalwood and chocolate and something masculine that she could not quite put her finger on. His beard tickled against her shoulder, and with these familiar sensations overwhelming her, she quite unexpectedly felt warm tears begin to fall down her cheeks, one after the other, dripping off her nose and chin into her lovers hair. Her body began to shake with uncontrolled sobs, but as she wept, she felt his warm lips move to her cheeks, wiping the tears from her face.

"Why are you crying?" he whispered, his voice catching slightly in his throat.

"I…I'm just glad you're home. That's all. I don't know what I would do if…" but she was silenced by the gentle pressure of his lips against her own, as he murmured,

"I'm not going anywhere."

She just nodded, as he buried his face into her neck once more, and pulled her closer to him.

Minerva could see out the window over Albus' shoulder. It was still dark. The wind was still blowing relentlessly. Warm salty droplets were still tumbling down her flushed cheeks, just as the downpour was beating against the glass pane window - but she no longer cared.

The rain may fall, but he was here, to kiss away her tears.

**Finite!**

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